Man Faked Retardation for Nearly 20 Years to Scam Government Out of $111,000

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Man Faked Retardation for Nearly 20 Years to Scam Government Out of $111,000

TACOMA, Wash. — For nearly 20 years — ever since Pete Costello was 8 — his mother has collected disability benefits on his behalf. In meetings with Social Security officials and psychologists, he appeared mentally retarded and unable to communicate. His mother insisted he couldn't read or write, shower, take care of himself or drive a car.

But now prosecutors say it was all a huge fraud, and they have video of Costello contesting a traffic ticket to prove it.

"He's like any other person trying to get out of a traffic ticket," Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Barbosa said Tuesday.

Pete and Rosie Marie Costello were indicted in September on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and Social Security fraud, and the case was unsealed Tuesday. The Vancouver pair were scheduled to appear in federal court in Tacoma on Tuesday.
Barbosa said he planned to file with the court two videos of Pete Costello taken this year: In one, he allegedly feigns retardation during an interview with Social Security workers; the other is of him contesting the traffic ticket in a courtroom earlier this year.http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,234657,00.html

TACOMA, Wash. — For nearly 20 years — ever since Pete Costello was 8 — his mother has collected disability benefits on his behalf. In meetings with Social Security officials and psychologists, he appeared mentally retarded and unable to communicate. His mother insisted he couldn't read or write, shower, take care of himself or drive a car.

But now prosecutors say it was all a huge fraud, and they have video of Costello contesting a traffic ticket to prove it.

"He's like any other person trying to get out of a traffic ticket," Assistant U.S. Attorney Norman Barbosa said Tuesday.

Pete and Rosie Marie Costello were indicted in September on charges of conspiracy to defraud the government and Social Security fraud, and the case was unsealed Tuesday. The Vancouver pair were scheduled to appear in federal court in Tacoma on Tuesday.
Barbosa said he planned to file with the court two videos of Pete Costello taken this year: In one, he allegedly feigns retardation during an interview with Social Security workers; the other is of him contesting the traffic ticket in a courtroom earlier this year.http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,234657,00.html

They should make them pay everything back PLUS do community service with the mentally disabled. I'm sure @ 8 he had no clue what scam his mother was brewing, but as he got older he should have known better!!

I can't belive this. A mother takes her 8 year old and makes him pretend to be retarded. She I am sure had to coach him at this, teach him mannerisms and speech charachteristics of the menatlly retarded. That is disgusting. Then he makes a career out of it as an adult.

We shouldn't be surprised by anything that people do to get a few bucks. Good grief. He must not have gotten a big check every month. I wonder if he ever worked or did they just live on his SS check? That is really pitiful anyway. The mom must have been raised in a family of scammers.

So now we are going to pay for room and board for them for a period of time; they probably don't have anything to be able to punish them financially--the money's gone. So many scams going on; they haven't even scratched the surface on all of the money being ripped off in this country.

So now we are going to pay for room and board for them for a period of time; they probably don't have anything to be able to punish them financially--the money's gone. So many scams going on; they haven't even scratched the surface on all of the money being ripped off in this country.

GAO report: Hurricane fraud soaked taxpayers
POSTED: 9:43 a.m. EST, December 6, 2006
Story Highlights• GAO says $20 million paid to "double-dipping" Katrina-Rita victims
• Government gave $3 million to students who weren't U.S. citizens
• People living in rent-free housing still received money to pay rent
• FEMA also sent nearly $17 million in rental aid to people in FEMA trailers
From Jeanne Meserve and Mike M. Ahlers
CNN
Adjust font size:
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Call it a case of double-dipping victims.

Federal investigators say the Federal Emergency Management Agency gave nearly $20 million in duplicate payments to over 7,000 people who claimed damages to the same property from both Katrina and Rita -- hurricanes that struck the Gulf Coast only 26 days apart.

This is from Texas..your friendly mod!

Any pasting from news articles require a URL and just a paragraph or two.

My uncle's BIL is a bit of a big shot with law enforcement and was called to NO to work for FEMA. He said they were all given Amex cards with no limit and told to charge whatever they needed to do their jobs. He had to go and order a bunch of rv's. He said it was so poorly managed and people just went crazy without there being any restrictions. And these were FEMA workers!

Perhaps the Political section is the place for further discussion, but what could be a bigger ripoff than congressmen voting themselves raises time after time? This while cutting benefits for people who make nowhere near what they do.

My uncle's BIL is a bit of a big shot with law enforcement and was called to NO to work for FEMA. He said they were all given Amex cards with no limit and told to charge whatever they needed to do their jobs. He had to go and order a bunch of rv's. He said it was so poorly managed and people just went crazy without there being any restrictions. And these were FEMA workers!

Yep, FEMA workers, they were being given daily per diem for meals when they were staying at places that provided all their meals as part of the agreement, taken care of entirely by FEMA. FEMA is just one more beaurocratic good old boy network; jobs at FEMA as political favors. What we need is a good book exposing the abuses by FEMA personnel; I think it would be an eye-opener.

Yep, FEMA workers, they were being given daily per diem for meals when they were staying at places that provided all their meals as part of the agreement, taken care of entirely by FEMA. FEMA is just one more beaurocratic good old boy network; jobs at FEMA as political favors. What we need is a good book exposing the abuses by FEMA personnel; I think it would be an eye-opener.

Buzz~
Do you believe that maybe things happened so quickly that the process wasn't well thought out? I mean, when we went through Ivan here in Florida everything went smoothly as far as aid, help, etc....Maybe FEMA expected the same for NO area? And when it didn't happen that way they had to scramble to get things in order.